


Refuge

by galacticmistake



Series: Strange Happenings in South Park (Whumptober 2020) [5]
Category: South Park
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Escape, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Labor, Kenny cares too much, Kenny doesn't take care of himself, Kenny has issues, Kenny is legitimately a good brother, On the Run, Past Character Death, Randy might actually care, Refuge, Sharon is kind, Stuart is not a good father, Temporary Shelter, Whump, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020, toxic home environment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:21:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26901304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galacticmistake/pseuds/galacticmistake
Summary: A drunken night leads to Kenny escaping with Karen. He stumbles upon a friend's place and is taken aback by the hospitality.(Whumptober Day 5: On The Run)(All characters are aged up for a high school setting. Karen is 11 and the main 4 are 16.)
Series: Strange Happenings in South Park (Whumptober 2020) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951258
Kudos: 30





	Refuge

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Toxic home environment, drunk parent, alcohol abuse (implied), running away, self-sacrifice, mentions of not eating for long periods of time, mention of past death, child labor mention

The next day, Kenny got off the bus to a buzz surrounding an accident in the science lab. He obviously knew what had happened, so he decided to scope it all out and get some more context.

However, by the time he got there, the lab was… gone. Just gone. Almost like it never existed in the first place. This stumped him for a bit, mostly because he just didn’t understand how something destroyed to such an extent could be cleaned up like it never existed within 24 hours.

The dots fully connected when he saw Kyle staring at the empty space, and he noticed the bandages on his face.

“Hey, Kyle. How are y-?”

“Where were you yesterday?”

“...hm?”

“You weren’t in school yesterday. Did you not hear about what happened?”

_ I was the one who saved you, what the fuck are you talking about?  _ Kenny thought to himself, obviously unable to actually say it.

“Yeah, seems like a dick move.” Cartman jeered, jabbing him straight in his shoulder bones. “If you were here…”

“Oh like you were there, asshole.” Kenny accidentally blurted out.

“What?”

“What?”

Kenny sighed and just opted to head to first period.

* * *

He finally came home from school, weary and tired of dealing with the people who just couldn’t deal with what he had to deal with on practically a daily basis.

“Hey, I’m home. Mom? Dad? Kevin?”

Nothing.

Normally, he liked having the house to himself, but today, it didn’t feel like a good thing.

He kept the door open to his room as he opened his backpack and spread out all of his school stuff, actually motivated to do his homework for once.

“Ok, 1st period. Start your chosen book. Fair enough. I’ll take notes on a more thorough read-through.” He sighed as he opened his copy of  _ Their Eyes Were Watching God  _ by Zora Neale Hurston.

* * *

6pm rolled around, and he set his US History book down, as the vibes in his house grew worryingly hostile. As he set his school stuff back in his bag, he heard a soft whimpering from the closet.

“Karen?”

He opened his closet to find his younger sister curled up in the corner, softly crying. He sat in the closet, trying to figure out what was causing her this emotional turmoil. 

However, he could hear Stuart’s drunken rampage clearly from the closet.

He had an idea.

“Karen, get me your school bag and a set of clothes for tomorrow. It’s not safe here.”

“But what if mom can’t find us?”

“I’ll call her from wherever we end up. Ok? I’ll let her know that you’re safe for the evening.”

“What about you? Mom worries about you too, you know.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll just tell her I’m with you or something. Ok? Now go get some clothes and your school stuff.”

Karen nodded quietly and obliged. After a few minutes, she had her clothes and her school stuff all bundled into 1 bag.

“Set your clothes into my bag.” Kenny whispered. “If we end up walking for a while, I can’t have your back hurting.”

After a few minutes of re-arranging Kenny’s bag, the two snuck out through the broken window and made a run for it. The both of them agreed that they’d run until they couldn’t hear Stuart anymore, and run they did.

* * *

It took 2 hours of running before they were in the clear, and the both of them were starting to feel worn out. 

Kenny had taken to carrying Karen because her feet had started to hurt, even though he was running on fumes with not much left to go off of.

“Hey, Ken? You can put me down.” Karen commented briefly.

She wrangled her way out of his arms and stared at the ranch house vaguely in the distance.

“It smells like weed.” She observed.

“Yeah, it does. Wait, are we at Tegridy Farms?”

“Maybe.”

The two made their way to the front porch, and Karen rang the doorbell.

“Someone’s here! Randy, put some goddamn pants on!”

Oh dear.

Sharon opened the door to the two McCormicks.

“Do your parents know you two are here?” Sharon asked.

“Stuart’s drunk, so I had to leave with Karen. And I was wondering-”

“Say no more. You 2 can stay here for the night. We’re just about to have dinner, so please, come on in.”

The two made their way inside, and Karen set her bag down by the door.

“Hey, soup’s on! Stan, come downstairs!”

Stan ran downstairs and noticed the 2 standing at the door.

“Mom, what the hell is going on?”

“They’re staying the night. Family issues.”

“Your dad drunk again?”

“Not as much as yours, I assume?” Kenny quipped back.

Karen just made the surprised Pikachu face.

“Just sit down and eat, you three.”

Stan and Karen moved to the dinner table, but Kenny just stood by the bags by the door.

“Kenny? You want some? I promise it’s not a drain on us.” Sharon offered.

“Oh, I’m just not hungry, but thanks for the offer. Actually, I was wondering where the guest room was?” Kenny explained.

“Oh, you can stay in Stan’s room.”

“No, not for me. For Karen. I’ll stake out on the couch, I just want Karen to have a safe, warm place to sleep tonight.”

“Shelly’s room is still set up. Karen, would you feel comfortable staying there for the night?”

“Yes, please.” Karen replied, grabbing a plate from the pile on the counter.

Kenny moved to the stairs.

“Also, is there a rule about shoes in the house? Don’t wanna mess up the carpets.”

“If you want to take them off, feel free to. No pressure.” Sharon replied. 

Kenny kicked his winter boots off before making his way to Shelly’s room to set Karen’s bag down.

He came back downstairs not too long later, and sprawled out on the couch to finish some of the missing homework that had been cluttering his bag.

Once everyone else finished dinner, Sharon noticed that Kenny had fallen asleep on the couch, so she grabbed a blanket from a pile by the TV and lightly draped it over him.

* * *

The TV turned on randomly, and Kenny shuffled a bit to clearly see what the fuck was happening.

He didn’t remember having a blanket, but he was silently grateful for whoever put it there. 

And then he saw Randy on the couch with the TV remote in one hand and pulling a plate out of the fridge.

“What time is it?’

“3am. You missed dinner.”

“Figured as much. Is… this a nightly thing for you?”

“Pretty much.” Randy replied as he turned the microwave on.

“Fair.”

The microwave dinged, and Randy gave Kenny the plate.

“...thanks?”

“Sharon got worried for you when you weren’t at the table. I know juggling school and family can be a struggle, but you can’t neglect yourself. When was the last time you ate anything?”

“Umm… 3 weeks ago? If I do get food, I usually give it to Karen. She really needs some sort of stability.”

Randy sighed.

“Are you… the only one that takes care of her?”

“Kinda. Mom’s looking for a job, I have no fucking idea how dad spends his day, and Kevin does manual labor 14 hours a day. Kevin’s income is spread more generally, like on rent and all that. Things are a little better, but not enough to constitute actual change in the home.”

“Are you working?”

“Have been since I was 8. Mr. Kim didn’t check for my age, and I only got that job in the 1st place to get Karen a stupid baby doll. It made her happy, so I thought I’d keep at it and try and make sure she gets what she needs.”

“That’s noble, but it shouldn’t be your job to care for her. Now eat up, kiddo.”

Kenny sighed and dug into the hot meal, grateful that even though it was temporary, it meant that someone cared at least a little bit.


End file.
